Roadrunners Volleyball Poised For Championship Run
ALBANY, Oregon – At the end of the 2021 regular season, the Linn-Benton Volleyball team finished with a 25-2 record overall, and a perfect 16-0 league record. In the playoffs they cruised to their first Northwest Athletic Conference(NWAC) Championship in program history, finishing the season with a record of 32-2 overall. A historical record that couldn’t possibly be topped— right? Fast forward a year later and the Roadrunners are sitting at 28-1 overall, with a 15-0 league record. With eight returning players from the 2021 team, the Roadrunners have hardly had a rebuild, rather a reload.
On Wednesday, Nov. 2 the Roadrunners clinched their second straight NWAC South Region Title with a dominant 3-0 win against Clark Community College. The Roadrunners will now get the honors of hosting the South Regional bracket in the playoffs. The Roadrunners will host the South Regional on Saturday Nov. 12, and Sunday, Nov. 13. The other three teams are TBD.
“I just need to continue to be a leader, because if I’m not loud in the backcourt then things get rough, and it all starts with a pass.” Roadrunners Sophomore Graci Zanona said. “I’m excited because last year I was injured, so I didn’t really get the chance to play here or at the NWAC’s [championship].”
As far as the regular season is concerned the Roadrunners still have one more challenge in the way of their second straight perfect league record, Lane Community College. Flashback to October 7 when these two teams first met down in Eugene. The Roadrunners rallied back from a 2 set deficit to win a 5 set thriller against the Titans. Although the game will have no implications for the playoffs, school pride, and bragging rights are on the table. Linn-Benton will host Lane on Friday, Nov. 4 in the regular season finale. Match start is set for 6:00 p.m. at 6500 Pacific Blvd in the Activities Center.
“Any chance we get to play Lane, Chemeketa, anybody who is a rival like school, players get pumped to go get a win.” Roadrunners Head Coach Jayme Frazier said. “More importantly this is what gets us moving towards the playoffs…and get another boost of confidence.”
